Budget to go ahead on 11 March, Rishi Sunak says

Rishi Sunak, the new chancellor, has confirmed the budget will go ahead as planned on 11 March despite the surprise departure of his predecessor, Sajid Javid.

Sunak said he was “cracking on with preparations” that would involve “levelling up and unleashing the country’s potential”.

Javid resigned last week over No 10’s plan to sack his Treasury advisers and merge parts of No 11 with Downing Street.

Afterwards, amid speculation Boris Johnson’s government might be forced to delay its first budget, Downing Street refused to confirm whether it would go ahead on time.

The budget had originally been scheduled for November but had to be pushed back because of the general election.

The Conservative party has not committed itself to any specific tax rises or significant infrastructure investment. There had been suggestions it was considering a “mansion tax” on the country’s most expensive homes to raise revenue, but that idea has reportedly been discarded after backbench Tory MPs raised concerns.